Key document

This handbook aims to alert project officers and managers to issues related to indigenous peoples and their knowledge systems, though is not intended to be a guide to field operations.

According to CIDA, including traditional knowledge (TK) in development projects can improve project results, outcomes and impacts, particularly when an indigenous community is directly or indirectly affected by the project.

The book makes the important observation that TK is more than a simple compilation of facts drawn from local, and often remote, environments. It is a complex and sophisticated system of knowledge that draws on centuries of wisdom and experience.

It is therefore important to include indigenous peoples as practitioners in much the same way a development project makes use of scientists or urban planners.